May 13, 1857: Sir Ronald Ross, malaria doctor, is born

Today in 1857, a son is born in Almora, India, to a military family. (No, not John McCain.) After completing his schooling in England, which in 1857 is operating India as a sort of colony, the boy who has become a man and then a doctor takes a job in India in a hospital.

Once in India again, the good doctor gets busy on a disease that so thoroughly wiped out Native American populations in 17th century Virginia and North Carolina that they couldn't maintain sufficient numbers for slave purposes. It is only a matter of time before he figures out that disease or it figures out him.

And in 1902, five years after contracting malaria, Dr. Sir Ronald Ross receives the Nobel Prize for his work on the deadly disease.

For the families and friends of the people we lost to malaria while I was writing this diary.

Lots of other important or often-taught things happened on this date in other years. In 1787, Australia's status as a giant prison began when Captain Arthur Philip left from England with what is now called the First Fleet: 11 ships full of convicts. (Unfortunately for Australia, the captain didn't need to ask for directions.)

But today is not about Australia.

Today in 1888, Brazil abolished slavery. I have written diaries on civil rights numerous times, including this Rescued effort and this less-loved narrative, and I will continue to do my part to engender discussion about race and racism.

But today is not about Brazil or slavery.

Today in 1960, HUAC visited California and was greeted by mass protests by UC Berkeley students, 31 of whom were arrested. A week and a half ago, I wrote a diary on a far more famous student protest, and my May 24 diary will cover the student protest movement from a different angle, and one I think many Kossacks will smile about when they read it.

But today is not about civil liberties.

Today is about the three people worldwide, probably all children, who have died from malaria or its effects since you started reading this diary.

I say this not to induce guilt but to strike home the fact that 106 years after Ross figured out how malaria was spread, and close to 400 years after we found something to treat it with, another person will die from malaria in 15 seconds. Probably a child.

We are absolutely attacking the problem, and malaria-related deaths are absolutely down.

And this year, we will lose a Montana's worth of children to malaria.

Why?

Because there is no vaccine.

Because Sub-Saharan Africa has HIV/AIDS, malnutrition, cholera, malaria and pretty much every other "I'm poor" disease and condition we've attached a name to. It's hard to fight malaria when you aren't getting enough proper food and your water supply is tainted. While we're talking about Darfur and the Sudan, and Somalia and Rwanda before them, malaria is and was decimating Africa's future. (And that's not even looking at the economy, education, genocide, civil war and general shittiness going on there. This diary is about malaria, but it could so easily be about any other of those topics.)

Because some treatments for malaria are expensive. And the cheap ones are still expensive for people who make our poor look wealthy:

Olyset, one of those nets, is built with fibers containing permethrin, which is slowly released over a five-year period.
[...]
The Olyset net retails for about $5.50, which puts it beyond the reach of many poor families.
[...]
The executive director of the independent foundation the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Richard Feachem, acknowledges that few Africans have access to conventional insecticide-treated mosquito nets, let alone long-lasting nets.
"Certainly, in most of Africa, if you hunt hard enough, you can find a net, but it probably isn't a treated net, it's probably just a regular net," he said.  "And so access to treated nets in Africa in most countries remains quite low.  We need to expand that."

And maybe partly because malaria is not a big problem for Europe or North America. Virginia, for example, has more mosquitoes than it knows what to deal with. Back where I grew up, you can't stand still outside in the summer (especially at night) or the mosquitoes will come after you.

But they don't have malaria.

A harsh statement, I know. But consider what we pay for in this country: bypass surgery, which prolongs one person's life, maybe for 10 years. Maybe 20. Heck, maybe 30. Thirty years for $45,000. That money could buy 8,200 nets, each lasting for five years, for 40,910 years of life. We get two hours' enjoyment out of a movie ticket. (I haven't bought one in probably more than a year, but my $75/day is most of our income.) That ticket usually costs more than $5.50. Two hours' entertainment or five years of life for someone you'll probably never meet.


The child who had 15 seconds to live has died, as have two others.

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